We seek to bless the greater Carlisle area.

Author Archives: jon hand

Making Space in our hearts for God and others…@ Engage

Hey Engage Community,
This past Sunday we started a conversation called “Letters to Imperfect People”. We are spending this month in the book of James in our Sunday worship gatherings.  The book of James is really a sermon written by James the half-brother of Jesus.  James grew up a skeptic of Jesus’ claim to be God [...]

Making Space at Engage….preparing for the fall.

Greetings Engage Family,
I want to invite you to join the Engage family for a special time of prayer focused on the next leg of our journey at Engage this fall.  Join us Saturday Aug 27th 3:00 PM @ Tanner and Lindsay DeBein’s 305 Tichy Drive Mt. Holly, PA.  This past year since January we have [...]

Leaving the building- Info on August 14th Brunch in the Park

Engage is leaving the building. . . this Sunday!
Hey Engage Family,
Sunday is quickly approaching and we are anticipating an exciting time as we leave the building to go get to know our neighbors and the neighborhood God has called Engage Church to be a part of in some way.  We want to give you details [...]

Nip it in the bud!!!

Last year I spoke with a man in his mid-thirties. “You’re a pastor right?”, he said. “Ya, why do you ask?”, I said. “Well, this year has been the hardest year of my life. My wife and I got a divorce. I’m having trouble paying my bills. I need to sell my house. It seems [...]

Engage is leaving the building…..

Busy? We know. Please take a few minutes to learn more about why Engage Church is leaving the building..
Click here for a 4 minute audio vision for our need to go UP, IN, and OUT into our community on August 14th…. august-14_vision_brunch-in-the-community
On August 14 Engage Church will leave the building. We will BE [...]

Reading Acts This Summer

Acts covers the first 20 – 30 years after Jesus resurrected and went back to Heaven and how his mission continues.  God’s spirit is alive but now his work in this world is done through everyday people like us.  We are calling it Mission (Im)Possible because if you think about it the mission that Jesus [...]

EnVision May 1: Looking back to move forward

Below are celebrations of how people have been experiencing the growth of Jesus-shaped lives at Engage since January. As you scroll down you can read people’s hopes, dreams, and prayers of how they could envision God using them to impact our community with Jesus’ revolution of love.   How awesome it is to be a part [...]

Invisible People. . .

On February 13th we had a conversation on Sunday morning at Engage called “You believe in God but do you worry all the time?” We asked people to write on a card one or two things they worry about.  We made a list of the baggage and burdens and worries people shared with us a [...]

Tsunamis and house fires! What the heck do I say to this? Where’s God now pastor guy?!?

I got an email this afternoon from a good friend. “Jon, you’re pastor guy. So in one week, Tsunami in Japan and 7 children die in a house fire in Perry County. What am I suppose to tell my family members who already don’t buy into the God and Jesus thing?”
So bear with my quick [...]

bearing fruit at Engage

Hey Engage Family,
I am excited to report some really cool and fruitful things happening through your Engage community this past week or so. This past Sunday we talked about how knowing God means we will be growing in our care for the poor and disadvantaged around us. We dug into Isaiah 58 and Jeremiah 22. [...]